Fungi fest Lake St Clair: round two. 2017
Cortinarius apricosa
Ever since our first highly successful venture in 2014, I have always wanted to return to Leeawuleena (Lake St Clair) to see the fungi. At last, this year, we succeeded, checking out the little darlings both at the lakeside, and also at the Franklin River reserve. Both spots yielded wonderful specimens to photograph. Oh, I get so frustrated trying to identify them. So many don’t seem to quite match any of the images on the wonderful FungiFlip (A pictorial guide to Tasmanian Fungi) or in the more comprehensive and excellent book on Fungi of Tasmania by Genevieve Gates and David Ratkowsky. The problem lies in me and not in their book or Flip. I fear I inconsistently sometimes want nature to be a lot simpler than it is for my convenience, but then it wouldn’t be nature, and I wouldn’t love it so much. Part of her allure is that she eludes our best efforts to tame her, or to comprehend fully her manifold secrets, or to reduce her to a simple set of rules or equations. There is always a complexity that lies beyond us.
Hygrocybe lewellinae
I don’t photograph anything for scientific purposes, or even as a record of “what I’ve seen” or “where I’ve been”. My photography is my creative interaction with the beauty I see around me, and my attempt to portray that beauty in my way. I love light, and the fungi I love are specimens that themselves play with light and allow me to represent my perspective on their play. Here is a small selection of what I saw last weekend.
Mycena interrupta playing cancan girl and showing us what’s under her skirt – nice gills, that’s what.
Alas, no idea
Mycena epipterygia
Mycena kuurkacea I presume
I would sure love to know this!!!
Yet another that has to go in my files as “unidentified”. Perhaps it’s a cute little coprinellus, or yet another mycena. If anyone can help me, please do in the comments. I’d be MOST appreciative.